This event has been expanded in scope to include the recent tragedies of Falcon Heights, North Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Istanbul, Bangladesh, Baghdad, et al.

Discussion topics:

How is the tragedy in Orlando impacting us personally and in our work with our clients? (i.e., our clinical work with our LGBTQIAP2S clients and our non-queer clients)

How are the recent events since Orlando impacting us in our roles as compassionate and empathetic helpers?

How are the intersections of our own gender, sexual identity, abilities, ethnicity, race, religion, and class impacting our work?

What are oppression fatigue, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue?

Ideas on how to prevent our compassion fatigue while managing our oppression fatigue.

Lenny Hayes and Irene Greene will help facilitate this casual round table conversation. (This is not a "workshop" and it is not for CEUs.)

Free to any LGBTQ+ mental health provider, whether you are a member of The MN LGBTQ Therapist Network or not. (We understand that Orlando, and the tragedies since, are upsetting for many people in our communities. Please, though, respect that this particular space is intended for therapists and mental health providers who identify as LGBTQ+.)

"I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival." - Audre Lorde

Notes on the process: You must register using the link above. We are going to cap this gathering at about 20 people. If there is more interest, we will modify our plans; maybe have two simultaneous groups with no more than about 30 people (15 per group). "Liking"our FacebookpagedoesNOTautomatically get you registered. (Though, please do it, as it helps us have a general sense of the interest for this event.)

If Allies (straight and cisgender therapists who are active allies of the LGBTQIAP2S communities and do or do not have queer clients) want to organize their own simultaneous gathering, you are welcome to do so. Some allies have said they would like a space to talk about their straight and cisgender privilege, how they can be more supportive to LGBTQ+ therapists and LGBTQ+ people in general, and more supportive to their LGBTQ+ clients. There's probably other issues, too. We have reserved enough space at Walker for this to happen. Contact me (Irene) and we can coordinate the schedules, amend this event page, share information, etc. (I started to organize a Allies part of this event, and after talking with 3 straight and cisgender therapists who couldn't facilitate it, I let it go and put my energy back into the LGBTQ+ therapist event. I think it would be great if there was an ally event, also.)

Format: Our mental health conference is unique because it intertwines clinical with personal with political. Each topic will be presented in two+ hour workshop blocks and is comprised of one presenter and 3-4 panelists. Each speaker is a mental health professional AND has personal lived experience with the topic. Each workshop will offer definitions, address assumptions, discuss clinical issues, and outline the best practices that are unique to the topic.

Note: Register early. We do anticipate selling out. Before we had even made our ticket sales “live,” we already had waiting list reservations for ¼ of the spots available. Walker Church has capacity for only 160 participants.

Volunteers are needed (and very much appreciated) before the conference and the day of the conference. To learn more about volunteer duties, contact the Volunteer Chair:Christy Schick
Note: People who volunteer for fewer than 20 hours will need to pay for their own registration, CEUs and lunches. If you want to receive conference CEUs, you need to volunteer for duties that do not occur during the actual conference hours. Tell Christy this information when you contact her. These slots are limited.

For many of us who are LGBTQ+ mental health providers, these weeks since "Orlando" have been intensely emotionally and psychologically draining - on both a personal and professional level.

We have been raw with our own pain, PTSD, shock and grief from the tragic events of Sunday, June 12, 2016; only exacerbated by the ongoing subsequent political, religious, familial, and social macro- and micro-aggressions that unsurprisingly followed. "Orlando" epitomizes the day-in and day-out personal and collective violence, rejection, discrimination, invisibility, and injustices caused by homo-hatred, heterosexism, racism, xenophobia, bi-erasure, and transphobia that we in the queer and queer POC communities face each day. We, as LGBTQ+ people, consistently confront these root causes of our collective and personal "Oppression Fatigue." "Orlando" maximized them to our core.

And yet, as therapists, we still showed up each day since (as best as we could) and have done our work of listening empathetically to the PTSD, grief, fear and anger of our LGBTQ+ clients; and equally attended to the therapeutic needs of our non-queer clients - who may or may not have even mentioned "Orlando."

This parallel process, clinical hour after clinical hour, can naturally take a toll on us. This toll often results in vicarious trauma. Unattended vicarious trauma of caregivers can develop into "Compassion Fatigue." Compassion fatigue, (emotional exhaustion and an isolative emptiness of empathy), is already a common "hazard" of our job as mental health providers. It is exponentially more likely and more harmful when it is exacerbated by a trauma that strikes deeply in our own lives and in the communities of our chosen family.

Given these times, perhaps more than ever, taking our own advice and making our self-care a priority is nothing less than imperative. In the name of responsible personal and professional care, I offer these suggestions:

We must not be in denial about how Orlando may be impacting us personally and professionally.

We must accept our own limitations, take more breaks, and make healthy choices that honor our needs and feelings.

We need to connect with our trusted colleagues, our own therapists or guides, so that we can stay ahead of our own vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

We must seek professional consultation about any client counter-transference issues or feelings of burn-out.

We need to request and accept support and care from our friends and loved ones.

I will go a step further and insist that we come out of the clinical boxes we call our offices and take a stand. Despite the fact that many of us therapists are introverts, I suggest that, in whatever way we can, we extend our time, money, vote, voice or effort towards any action that puts a dent in our own oppression and the oppression of our clients.

Tom Glaser's Book & Show: Full Heart LivingFrom longtimeLGBT TherapistsNetworkmember Tom Glaser:
Full Heart Living: Conversations with the Happiest People I Know is Tom Glaser’s account of interviewing the happiest people in his life. With care and compassion, Tom shares how their words and experiences affect him. Full Heart Living examines the everyday choices happier people make, and provides concrete exercises and action steps so you can begin making similar choices today.

AND, in conjunction with Cosmos Theater Productions, Tom and a team of superb actors are preparing a live performance based Full Heart Living.

"Full Heart Living LIVE! The Bootcamp Experience" is an entertaining, motivating, and informative romp that premieres at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Find us at Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55408

With over 100 active members, the MN LGBT Therapists' network provides an online directory of LGBTQIP2SA -identified and supporting mental health providers and allied professionals. We'd love to have you join us!visit our website
to find out how

Quorum

All LGBT Therapists' network members can attend Twin Cities Quorum events at member ratesQuorum website

About the MN LGBT Therapists' network eNewsletter

Our network is a Minnesota-based grassroots group of queer and allied mental health therapists, students in mental health-related fields, and community mental-health related agencies. Our group shares information and resources that impact our varied work in the mental health fields and that is unique to the particular needs of the LGBTQIP2SA communities we live in and serve. We welcome submissions to this eNewsletter that are pertinent to mental health and LGBTQIP2SA issues, All network members are welcome to contribute to this monthly eNewsletter. Just send your referral question, announcement, member accomplishment, space available information, event, conference, workshop, group information, or other pertinent notice to Irene Greene. All responses to questions, ads, workshops, etc. should be emailed directly back to the contact person in the notice. If you want to become a member of this organization please visit our website

You are receiving this eNewsletter because you have either joined the MN LGBT Therapists network, signed up for more information at a conference or event, or you have expressed an interest in our network. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom left of this newsletter.